ESWP: International Bridge Conference®: Seminars

2009 Seminars

IBC Seminars are intensive, four-hour, single-topic focused sessions. Each seminar requires an additional fee of $125. Please see the special section on the Conference Registration Form. Seating for each Seminar is limited, so please register early. Professional Development Hours (PDHs) are provided upon request and verification.

State of the Art Confined Soil Walls and Abutment, and Variations of Soil Nailing Technologies - $125 (Additional Registration)

Presented: Tuesday, June 16; 8:30 am–12:00 noon

Moderator: Michael Adams, Senior Researcher, FHWA Turner Fairbank Highway Research Center, McLean, Virginia; Robert Barrett, TerraTask, LLC; Colby Barrett, TerraTask, LLC

Part One – History and Introduction (One hour)
The first half workshop presents a summary of 40 years of geotechnical research in retaining walls, bridge abutments, open bottom box culverts, reinforced soils, landslides and rockfall. This research was performed by Colorado DOT, the US Forest Service, the Federal Highway Administration and several agencies and universities. Expenditures on this research effort exceeded 25 million dollars and the major conclusion presented here is that smaller, lighter inclusions in granular soil produce stronger composite behavior than do heavier, stiffer elements on wider spacing. Full scale demonstrations show that variations in spacing of the inclusions approaches exponential factors in some cases.

Several new tools, methods and techniques will be presented that are not as yet in standard practice. Earthquake Wings (a new and better way to build abutments in seismic regions) will be presented. Scour prevention methods will be introduced. The presentation concludes with recent constructions with the Soil Nail Launcher, including Launched Nails, Launched Micropiles and Launched Scour Micropiles. Super Nail concepts will also be discussed.

Part Two – Design Methods for Geosynthetically Confined Soil Walls, Abutments, Piers, Box Culverts, Soil Nails and Micropiles. (Two Hours)
This session presents analytical methods for designing state of the art composites. Examples of field constructions and including cost estimating will be presented. This session will also discuss the reasons for failures in MSE constructions.

At the end of the seminar, the participants will be able to:

  • Gain awareness of geotechnical research into composite soil behavior
  • Utilize analytical methods for designing various structures and foundation types using geosynthetically confined soil
  • Increase their knowledge base of state-of-the-art construction methods and techniques

Highway Tunnel Inspection, Maintenance and Operation - $125 (Additional Registration)

Presented: Tuesday, June 16; 8:30 am–12:00 noon

Moderator: Jesus Rohena, FHWA

This seminar will focus on the sharing of the best practices for inspection, maintenance, and operation of Highway Tunnels. Topics to be covered include:

  • Design, Construction, Inspection, Maintenance and Operation
    Fire Safety Modeling – Consultant
  • Highway Tunnel Inspection, Maintenance and Operation - PennDOT
  • Structural, Mechanical, Electrical
  • Ventilation
  • Appurtenances

At the end of the seminar the participants will be able to:

  • Understand the principles of good practices in inspection, maintenance and operation
  • Establish contacts and reference sources
  • Develop sound and effective programs for tunnels

Target Audience: Federal, state and local highway agency engineers, and consultants in materials, design, construction, inspection, maintenance and operation of tunnels.

Load Rating of Gusset Plates of Connections of Steel Truss Bridges - $125 (Additional Registration)

Presented: Wednesday, June 17; 8:30 am–12 noon

Moderator: M. Myint Lwin, P.E., S.E. FHWA

This seminar will focus on two goals:

  • To provide bridge engineers with the fundamental knowledge to use the recent FHWA guidance to load rate gusset plates in accordance with the AASHTO LRFR and LFR methods
  • Lessons learned by State and Consultant Bridge Engineers in addressing the impact of the evaluation requirements for existing truss bridges.

Topics include:

  • NTSB Recommendations, FHWA Technical Advisories and FHWA Guidance on Load Rating of Gusset Plates of Steel Truss Bridges using LRFR
  • A State’s Perspective in Using LRFR in the Load Rating of Gusset Plates
  • A State’s Perspective in Using LFR in the Load Rating of Gusset Plates
  • Using Finite Element Analysis in Load Rating of Gusset Plates
  • Application of Software in the Load Rating of Gusset Plates

At the end of the seminar, the participants will be able to:

  • Understand the background behind the FHWA Guidance and the detailed steps involved in load rating by the LRFR and LFR methods
  • Gain a good knowledge on how load ratings are done by State and Consultant Bridge Engineers
  • Develop sound and effective programs for insuring structural adequacy of bolted and riveted of gusset connections in steel truss bridges in compliance with NBIS

Target Audience:
Federal, state and local highway agency engineers, and consultants in design, construction, and inspection of steel truss bridges.

A list of Workshops can be found on the Workshops page.

 

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